In busy day-to-day life as a ministry leader, it can be easy to get bogged down in nitty-gritty scheduling details and lose track of why you are involved in ministry in the first place. The same is true for your volunteers.
To be sure that both you and your volunteers stay connected to your church and ministry goals, use your scheduling communications with them as a platform for grounding their service in your mission. Here are three easy steps to make that happen:
1) Know your mission (whether church-wide or ministry specific).
This step can seem intuitive, but is often overlooked. Be sure that you know your church mission and/or your specific ministry (if it is different). If you don’t have one, find some time to put one together with your team. It should be 10 words or less and easy to understand! For instance, my church’s mission is “Know God and make Him known.” It’s snappy, easy to remember, and incredibly meaningful.
2) Determine how your ministry supports the mission.
Once you have your mission, the next thing to do is identify and articulate how your ministry fits into the mission. Once, I was leading a children’s ministry group around our church and was able to have a great conversation with them about how our tech team contributes to our church by making it possible for everyone to hear and see the words we sing during musical worship at services. It was so rewarding to see the children making the connections between different people’s gifts and talents and how they can be applied to serving in ministry. But that lesson isn’t just for kids, it’s important that everyone involved understands those connections!
3) Talk about the mission in ALL of your communication with volunteers.
Finally, and most importantly, don’t take it for granted that your volunteers know and always remember it and their connection to it. Be sure everyone’s work is grounded in the mission by integrating it into all communications with your volunteers. Volunteers will feel more invested if they are reminded why their work is important. Then, they will be more likely to spread the word about your ministry and it’s mission – giving you more and more volunteers excited to serve in ministry at your church! It’s a circle that can just keep on giving.
A couple tips for integrating your mission into ministry communication:
1) Put it in your email signature. This way it is always there, even if you forget.
2) When you email your volunteers about their schedules, work it into your messaging. If you’re using a program like Ministry Scheduler Pro to communicate with volunteers, you can save scheduling emails with mission-specific language, so you can easily load those emails and send them when you need.
3) Best, and most importantly, of all, try to have an annual meeting or event each year that renews everyone’s investment in your mission. Whether it’s a brainstorming meeting that allows volunteers to articulate their ideas for fulfilling the church’s mission in the coming year or an activity that brings the community together, a chance to check in and make sure that everyone is engaged in it can go a long way.
This blog was written by Raina Hanson of Ministry Scheduler Pro. Previously one of their favorite clients, Raina joined the team at Rotunda software in 2014. With degrees in theology and mathematics, she uses her background and experience helping churches free up time spent in administrative work to focus more on the other parts of ministry.
